The Danbury Whalers announced that defenseman Jakub Baca has signed an agreement with the team. The 24-year-old is a native of Kosice, Slovakia.

Baca, at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds, played in the Slovak 1 Liga, which is the second-best hockey league in Slovakia for HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas. In 36 games during the regular season, he finished with one goal, two assists, 32 penalty minutes, and a plus/minus of (-1). Baca helped guide his team to a playoff berth.

Baca played two seasons in the Slovak 1 Liga and reached the playoffs both times. In the 2012-13 season, he registered four goals and 10 assists. Also in the playoffs, Baca had a goal and two assists over five games.

Baca played five years of amateur hockey in the Slovakian U18 and U20 lower-tier leagues for HK 32 Liptovsky Mikulas, where he averaged nearly a point per game as a defensemen (0.96 in U18 League 2 and 0.82 in U20 League 2).

Jakub has NHL lineage in his blood as his father, Jergus, played 10 games for the Hartford Whalers during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons. Jergus was drafted by the Whalers in 1990, with the 141st overall pick in the seventh round. He was a member of the 1990-91 Calder Cup champion Springfield Indians. Jergus Baca also won the World Championship Gold Medal with Team Slovakia in 2001-02 and is currently coaching Team Slovakia at the international junior and pro level.

This agreement marks the second time a son of a Hartford Whalers player has signed in Danbury. Baca joins Don Maloney Jr. (Danbury 2011-12) on this list as his father Don Maloney played in Hartford during the 1988-89 season.